Laws are Troublesome
by angelamangelabangela
Summary: A marriage law ensues over Konoha. A story of Ino and Shikamaru, their battles and conquests through marriage's trials. Rated T for now, but might move to M over time.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is mostly just a blended idea from the Harry Potter series, the Marriage Law and throwing it in to Naruto. I thought it might be fun. Plus I'm on vacation right now, so I figured I have time, why not? Everyone in the story is about 17 or 18; I figured that seemed like an appropriate age to start off with.

Also this chapter is more of a flashback and background knowledge idea, just so things don't get too confusing as the story moves on. Please let me know if it's confusing or if something seems awkward. Sorry that the beginning has a little bit angst in it, but I promise it will get better!

Please no flames and reviews are appreciated! Also this is my first fic and I would love for some advice! Thank you very much!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and its related characters/places, this written strictly for entertainment value.

The war between the Hidden Leaf and Orochimaru's forces had finally come to an end a few months ago; a final battle had settled it all, resulting in Orochimaru's death, as well as many other more cared for shinobi. It had been hard on the village, many had died, and the village population had suffered greatly, both from civilian and shinobi deaths. The Rookie Nine had survived, all but two. Sasuke and Choji; the latter died in battle against a fearsome Sound ninja during an attack on Konoha, he died protecting the ones he loved and his memory was treasured by all. Sasuke on the other hand dies at the hands of the Hokage herself, he had been in the way during the last battle, and Tsunade got rid of him.

Despite the loss of loved ones, everyone, villagers and ninja alike, had banded together to help rebuild Konoha to its former glory. They succeeded, the streets were refurbished with new brick and concrete, the tall majestic crumbling outer walls had been restored to its powerful standing and the homes of the people had been rebuilt of newer stronger material to last for decades to come. Everything seemed fine and dandy, there was no more war, the city was fine, but the population numbers and the morale of the people were low. There were hardly any people in the village to function as a whole working community.

With this dilemma on the Hokage's plate, Tsunade was forced to do something desperate. For as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures, right? But what was she supposed to do? Pair up each and every shinobi with another? Crazy…but maybe not _too_ crazy... If she could find the right people to make some fort of survey perhaps that would help, it wouldn't be too bad, there were hardly thousands of people to look through, plus she could always employ the help of some housewives to help her. Nope, this wouldn't be too bad at all; she could do this, after all this **was **the Hokage's duty, to make tough decisions like this. It would all work out in the end, right? Right.

It all started while she was walking down the newly repaired streets of Konoha, on a simple delivery for the flower shop. No big deal, Ino did this often enough for her parents. Plus she owed them big time, not because she did anything wrong, on the contrary, they let her move out of the family home. At the mere age of seventeen! Of course there were some limitations, but they were oh so worth getting away from the overprotective father who claimed that his 'darling bundle of joy' was too young and 'fragile' to be living by her lonesome. But after some pouting and doggy eyes at her father, Ino convinced her father to let her live on her own.

She now had a small apartment with two bedrooms, a conjoining bathroom as well as a small kitchen and living/dining area. It was perfect. It also wasn't very far from both her jobs and her home. Things were changing for Ino, and she liked the feeling it brought her. A feeling of freedom, to do whatever she pleased whenever she wanted to; if she felt the need to clean, she cleaned, the need to sleep, she slept. Her life was brimming with hope and joy for she was now the complete ruler to live her life the way she wanted to. What with nothing holding her down and all, she was free to do what she felt she wanted. As Ino walked into the restaurant the flowers were for, she pondered her past with interest.

You see, things had not been easy for Ino; her father refused to let Ino into battle and so was forced to sit out and be considered a coward. She grew angry at her father and decided to become a medic at home instead, so that she'd be useful to her comrades and fellow villagers. She trained with Tsunade and Sakura day and night until she became as skilled as any other medic. She promised herself that she would be useful to her people and it was her honor to do so. Choji and Shikamaru weren't so much as on the fronts as they were needed more at home, to help defend the village. Ino had no worries about them. They met up often enough, Choji being the glue that kept the team ten together. They stayed a tight knit group until the last year of the war.

Choji had been called upon to go to the front lines. He was no longer needed at home within the safe boundaries of the walls. Ino and Shikamaru fought to keep him home, insisting that he was needed at home more, but the Hokage refused and demanded that Choji go to the front lines and fight for his village, as it was the noble and honorable thing to do. Ino and Shikamaru gave in to her demands and sent off not only their teammate, but also a beloved friend. Ino grew busy with her medic training and Shikamaru fell into the world of strategy, soon enough, they grew apart. They had lost the glue that held them together. It wasn't until Choji's funeral, only a mere month after he left, came along that they saw one another.

_Flashback_

_It was a sunny day, one with clouds and the sweet scent of flowers drifted through the air. Of course things weren't always what they seemed to be, as many ninjas were taught from the very beginning of their training. Today was a terrible day. The people of the city mourned for the loss of one of the most beloved citizens of Konoha. It was there where two distant shinobi meet to say good-bye to their fallen friend._

"_Hey", Ino had said quietly, "are you doing okay?"She reached up and rubbed the stiffened muscles of her friends back. _

"_What do you think? I just lost the only friend I knew." Ino flinched from the harsh words her fri-, no, not friends anymore, her… her fellow villager. _

_She mustered up all of the gentleness in her voice and spoke softly. "Shikamaru, I'm still your friend, right? I'll still be here for you. You know that." _

_He turned towards her with a glimmering fierceness in his eyes and said the cruelest words Ino had ever heard, "No, no you're not. You've never been there for me or Choji, you were, no are, nothing but a troublesome slut who craves for all the attention in the world. Jumping from one man to another, disgusting. I can't stand to look at your face, for when I do, I feel nothing but disgust and pity towards your imbecilic existence." With that, he shoved his back away from the girl and walked away; not even bothering to stay and watch his best friend's ashes be thrown to the wind. _

_That day Ino cried for both of her lost friends._

_End Flashback_

She hadn't seen or talked to him in almost a year. Actually, eleven months and seventeen days since he left her crying on that fateful day. Of course she had her girlfriends to talk too, Sakura and all them, but sometimes she still missed the lazy bum who would sit and listen to her petty issues.

"Oi, are you the one that has the flowers? I've been waiting forever!" The shop owner ran out and said," Ino? Haven't seen you in forever, thanks for the flowers, figured the place could use something that smells good." So, Kiba was the owner of the small diner. She had heard Sakura say that he was opening something or other.

Ino giggled, "Of course it's me! Who'd you expect, Neji to carry flowers through the town?" She set down the flowers by a small table near the entrance," Sorry about being late, I was thinking, daydreaming, whatever you want to call it."

Kiba laughed, "Of course, wouldn't expect anyone but you to bring the flowers, "He picked them up and started to place them in the small vases on each table," So, I'm having an opening for friends tonight, everyone's coming from the old days, do ya wanna stop by? It'd be fun, you don't have to spend a dime, and it'll be free since you guys are all my friends and the like."

Ino smiled, she had nothing to do tonight, so why not? "Sure Kiba I'll be here, what time is it? What do I need to wear?" Kiba chuckled, "Umm, say about seven, Hinata is planning most of this for me, I think that's the time. Whatever you want to wear, just no street clothes, if I can't 'em, you can't."

"Okay then, I'll you around seven!" With that Ino ran out the door and to the shop to tell her mother that she was going out tonight. It wasn't a that simple though on the walk back, a crowd had gathered by a local meeting place, Ino being the curious girl she was, walked over to the fountain to find that there was a survey being handed out to every shinobi between the ages of seventeen to twenty six, and it was demanded, by law, that it had to be completed by the end of the day.

_Well, _Ino figured, _might as well get one while it's hot._ She grabbed the sheet of paper and glanced at the questions. It seemed like any other survey she had took before, so she figured she'd take it home and do and then turn it in before she went to Kiba's opening night. She'd go home pick out an outfit, take a shower do the survey and be on her way, no big deal right? After all what harm could a little survey do?

A/N: So do you like it? Let me know what you think! Please and thank you very much!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! I'd like to thank the following for being the first ones to review/add to alerts: Daga Uchiha, LaBelled'Italie, Haylin-chan, CapturingMaiomi, XxXAlways-a-DreamerXxX, and an anonymous reviewer.

So this is a continuation of the situation at hand. Sorry if the story seems slow at first, but I think it will pick up in the up and coming chapters. I won't be back for twenty days, so I figured I give you guys a huge chapter to keep you entertained.

Please review! (But no flames please, they scare me...)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and its related characters/places, this written strictly for entertainment value.

…

Chapter Two

_Last time: After all what harm could a little survey do?_

Ino had arrived home at a reasonable time. Five in the afternoon was as good time as any to relax before a get-together. Plenty of time for Ino to take a shower, pick out an outfit and start/finish the survey. After shouting into the shop to her mother that she was going out that night, she ran up the stairs to take her shower.

She got to her room and peeled off her daily clothes. Not only had Ino changed from the war emotionally and mentally, but also somewhat in the physical sense as well. She no longer wore the revealing outfits bearing her midriff and other parts of her anatomy; instead she wore practical clothing for a kunoichi, pants and simple shirts with neutral color schemes, instead of the ostentatious blazing purple of her former clothes. So going to a get-together where she was not required to wear her gear, she decided that she should dress up for the first time in eleven months and seventeen days.

With those thoughts in mind, Ino hopped in the shower, it was relaxing, feeling the hot water run down her body, and after all thinking about the past did not do too well, for her. She picked up her shampoo and started to lather her hair, in fact, Ino realized that this was the first time she hadn't cried while recalling her friends. _Well, maybe I'm finally getting over the grief of Choji,_ she thought to herself with a small smile. The gods above only knew that almost every day, without fail, she would bring flowers to the memorial and to the hill she threw Choji's ashes to the wind, and every time she would venture to those places, she would cry for hours on end. She had only gone to his grave two days ago, she cried hard that day. Ino rinsed out the shampoo and started to wash her body in one of her better smelling scents, lavender and vanilla. She thought of every memory as a child with Choji and Shikamaru. It was sad to look back and see that you're no longer had the friends that you used to have.

She shook off that thought and quickly finished her shower. Ino stepped out of her bathroom and walked over to her closet. Clutching the towel nervously, she bit her lip, knelt down and opened her old boxes containing her party clothes. _Well, wasn't I the partier, _she thought, _well; at least I know I have something to wear._ Ino snickered out loud at her own sarcastic thought. It stopped almost instantly when she saw just how many clothes she had to go through. She picked up the heavy box and set it on her bed to be dumped out. With the task accomplished, the dumping part anyway, she walked away to change into some sweatpants and t-shirt. She put her hair in some sponge curlers for a natural wave in her hair, instead of her normal stick straight hair. She loomed over her bed lamenting over which dress or outfit would look more sophisticated and…well for lack of a better word, slutty. She narrowed down her clothes to five black dresses. Two were floor length, but seemed much too formal for the event she was going to attend. The third one was okay but seemed too short to wear and formal. So that left the last two. They were both black, obviously, casual, and seemed to be the right lengths, the only difference was one was tea length and the other ended just above the knee. She decided on the one with that ended just above the knee would be the best choice; after all, she still wanted to show off something.

…

The dress looked perfect, a nice sweet-heart neckline and a cinched waist made the little black dress look wonderful, pair with her peek-a-boo shoes and the overall affect was perfect. She set her outfit down on top her bed, having packed up the rest of the clothing and shoving it back into the box. She picked up the survey and carried it over to her desk, she glanced at the clock, it read 5:45 pm, _plenty of time,_ she thought, _this won't take long, I mean it's only ten questions. How hard can this be? _She looked back to the paper, _Yep not that hard at all. I wonder why Tsunade-shisho issued this. Well she has her reasons, after-all she probably wants to see how the shinobi are favoring after this war._

She looked to the first question:

1. **Name/age/birthday: **_Ino Yamanaka, 17, September 23._

**2. What is you shinobi level? And what do you specialize in? **_Jonin; I specialize in mind jutsus and spy techniques, however I am mostly a medic shinobi, as is my duty to my village._

**3. What are your some of your key qualities? **_Well, I guess I'm a pretty good medic, so that probably means that I'm somewhat smarter than the average ninja, I'm pretty fun at times, as well as sarcastic, however I can get serious if the need arises. I have to be on time for things, no matter what the event. Punctuality is key to survival, in my opinion. I love cleaning and cooking, just the women in me I suppose. I guess you could also say that I'm sweet and caring as well._

**4. Are you currently in a relationship? **_No, not now, it's too confusing._

**5. What do you think is a sufficient time to date someone before marriage? **_Probably about a year or so, I wouldn't, seeing as I am not married._

**6. Do you like children? **_Most definitely. I hope to have some one day. _

**7. What do you look for in a partner? **_Someone who is funny, smart and can keep up with my lifestyle as both a girl and a shinobi. Just someone who accepts me for me, not just by the shell on the outside, but what fills that shell as well._

**8. How do you feel about traditional values? **_Tradition should be honored in the upmost respect and good-heartedness. They should never be ignored, because then you are disrespecting the wishes of your elders, which is never a good thing, for you might get slapped upside the head, or get a smack on your bottom. _

**9. How has the war affected your life? **_In the most negative way possible, I lost a best friend._

**10. Would you do what is necessary in order for Konoha to function? **_Yes, I would do whatever it took to bring this village to a better place, even if it meant dying for my land._

Ino furrowed her brows, _That was a weird survey; I wonder why Tsunade wants to know our dating preferences. _With that thought she flicked her eyes to the clock once again. _Six fifteen? I'm going to be late!_ Ino sprung from her seat at her desk unrolled her curlers and flung off her clothes, and quickly changing into her outfit for the night. She ran into her bathroom and applied some quick red lipstick, threw on a quick layer of mascara and arranged her loose waves to sit on one side of her head, with some strategically placed bobby pins of course, falling gracefully down the front of her dress. Satisfied with her appearance in the mirror, she ran out of the bathroom, snatched the survey off of her desk, yanked on her shoes and whipped down stair and out the door, while shouting a quick good-bye to her parents.

…

Ino walked down the streets of Konoha quickly, she had to be at Kiba's on time. She was nothing, if wasn't prompt and punctual. She put her survey in the box designated for her age group by the fountain. She walked quickly to Kiba's and glanced at the small silver wristwatch she wore, it was a gift from Choji before he left. _Six fifty-seven, just in time. _Smoothing out her dress_,_ she smiled to herself and strode into the restaurant with a confidence could not be ignored nor denied. As expected, the entire rookie 'nine' and some of Kiba's family were also gathered in the restaurant. She walked over to where Sakura, Neji, Naruto and Hinata were gathered.

"Hey Ino," Sakura greeted Ino with a smile and a tight hug, "Thought I might see you here."

"Of course I'm here," Ino laughed, "Have you ever seen me missing a friend's party?"

Sakura and Hinata giggled, "Of course how silly of us to think so." Hinata joked around with Ino and Sakura for a while before going to go check on Shino, she said something about him looking lonely.

Later on that evening, Kiba made an appearance and asked all of them to sit down and wait for the food that he was apparently making the whole hour since Ino arrived. She down contentedly and noticed that the seating was arranged by team number and persons on the team. Ino guessed that this was Hinata's idea, for Kiba would have never even thought of something like this. Ino suddenly noticed that, not everyone was there. Shikamaru was missing from the scene. She noticed at the beginning but thought nothing of it, thinking that he was simply late and nothing more. Even though she was one for wanting to talk to him, especially after what he had said to her that terrible day in her past.

Ino was worried though, even if Shikamaru was lazy and wasn't one for punctuality, he would never be late by an hour, maybe fifteen minutes, but definitely not an hour. It wasn't like him. She was beginning to worry about him, because when she asked Naruto earlier, he had said that Shikamaru would be here eventually, and that she needed to chill out and enjoy the atmosphere. Ino was wondering why she was so anxious for his arrival. Shouldn't she be dreading this day? The day that they would absolutely have to talk to each other? She began to bite her fingernails when all of the sudden the bells above the door rung out a small ding.

Speak of the devil. Of course, this devil just happened to look straight at her with his piercing gaze. He looked away and looked like he was muttering to himself… Probably something along the lines of 'troublesome'.

Instantly, Ino looked away from his gaze, but not without a light rose tainting her pale skin. It wouldn't take him long to figure out that Ino and him were supposed to eat next right next to each other, if this wasn't going to be awkward, Ino didn't know what would be.

When Shikamaru entered Kiba's new restaurant, quickly spied the former blonde teammate with awe, she seemed to gain more curves and looked more beautiful than the last time he had seen her. With a flinch at the harsh words he had said to her, he glanced about the room and realized that all of his friends were broken up into their respective teams and were socializing at their own small private tables. It occurred to him that he would be sitting at a small table with Ino…alone. This was going to be troublesome.

Shikamaru sauntered over to the secluded table with his hands in his pockets. He slowly pulled out the chair across from Ino, plopped down crossing his arms over his flak jacket and proceeding to look at Ino. Ino looked off to the side avoiding his eyes and squirming in her seat for several minutes. Eventually Shikamaru got annoyed with Ino moving about and avoiding him that he grew impatient and said, "Is there a reason you're not looking at me?"

Ino stopped her fidgeting and blinked remaining silent. Shikamaru's eye twitched and he rephrased the question," Is there a reason as to why you are not talking, you were always the talkative one after all."

Ino frowned," Well, I see no reason to talk to you," she smirked when she saw him flinch at her cold tone, "You can't expect for someone to talk to you when they insulted you're very before, now can you?"

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. Of course she would still be sore about his words from the past. He hadn't meant to call her a…a slut, but he was angry with himself, he could have prevented his best friend's death, yet he didn't. It was an emotional time for him and he didn't know how to cope, so he did they only thing he could think to do, he pushed everyone away, and used his work and smoking to get away from the emotional distresses of everyday life. After all he had more important things to do than worry about his 'feelings', for example, he had to come up with a plan to solve the population issues among his fellow shinobi.

Shikamaru didn't have the time to mend past bridges with Ino. He was top strategist and as such needed to be alert for the Hokage at any time, place or destination. It wasn't worth the effort to spend time talking about his 'feelings' with people. He saw no advantage in it, plus then he would be vulnerable and therefore open to attack. So if the top strategist went down, so did the village. He briefly considered telling Ino this but decided not to tell her, she wouldn't understand anyway, she was too dumb anyway. Right?

"If you think I don't understand why you said the things you did, you're wrong," Ino whispered quietly," you probably think I'm too stupid to understand what you went through right?" She looked down at the tablecloth and smiled sadly," I guess that's what I am, stupid; a stupid blonde."

Shikamaru had no idea what to say, he wasn't used to women…whatsoever. Thank the gods the food arrived at the table at that moment, saving him from having to respond to an emotional female. Kiba had personally brought the food to each table, "Hey Shikamaru! Glad you could make it, heard you'd been workin' overtime with the Hokage lately. Enjoy your meal guys." On that note Kiba strode away to go sit with his own teammates, completely at ease.

Ino had felt like crap as soon as Shikamaru had begun talking to her, like she was below him or something. Completely bogus if you ask her, like some stupid caste system and she was on the bottom of the chain while he was the one sitting comfortably on the top. Well she would show him that was also on the top part of the chain, she was smart, she was pretty, and she was proud of all of her assets. She would do it if it meant that she would have to meet him daily, if that meant awkward situations, so be it. She would prove him wrong in his assumptions of her, it was her new goal.

After the food arrived, they ate in silence and stuffed their faces with the good food. _Choji would have liked this place, in fact I bet he would have been a regular here, if not because Kiba was his friends, but also for the food._ Thoughts like this drifted through Ino and Shikamaru's minds. Before they knew it, they had finished their meal in complete silence. Their other friends were laughing and talking at the separate tables. But complete silence reined over team ten's table.

Ino thought about staying for the after drinks and socializing, but decided against it and chose to leave after everyone stood up. She would say her goodbyes and just leave, like a normal person. However Shikamaru just had to flush that plan down the drain by uttering a few words.

"So, that was fun filled, hope we don't run into each other soon." Shikamaru had gotten irritated by the silence so had figured that since Ino was being rude, he would too.

Ino was pissed. Her face turned red and she quickly stood up from the table with such force she knocked down her chair with a loud thump, effectively gaining the attention of everyone in the restaurant. It went silent, and Ino leaned over as if to whisper in Shikamaru's ear. This was not her plan, she had planned to make a less dramatic exit from the cold presence of him, but that statement went too far, way too far.

A loud smack resounded throughout the quiet space; it seemed to echo from its force. Shikamaru's head was whipped to the side from the impact. He could only feel the bruise forming on the right side of his cheek. Ino leaned over and whispered, in the most chilling tone," Ever insult me again, and I will promise to bring more pain to you…by the way, that won't heal for two days, you can thank Tsunade-sama for the technique."

With that she turned around and left the restaurant in the calmest manner, as if she hadn't almost broken Shikamaru's cheekbone. However, went she was about a block away from Kiba's, she tore off her shoes and ran down the streets and her house straight to Choji's grave. Tears streaming down her face, not caring about the cuts on her feet or the way her make-up smeared, she crouched down in front of his grave reached out a shaking hand and gently stroked the smooth cold stone with a pain clutching the inside of her chest. Just when she thought the pain was over, it sprung anew. But this time from the pain of hearing a 'friend' insult your very presence and abilities. With these thoughts in her head, she whispered to the dark silent cemetery," Why? Why Choji? If you were here you would have known what to do, what to say."

…

Shikamaru was shocked. That slap had been the most painful thing he had ever felt, his face had a perfect red smear on the side of his face. He had no doubt that the bruise would stay there on his face for the next couple of days. _What's up with that girl? Geez, troublesome._ Shikamaru groaned and stood from his chair in the silent eatery, waved good-bye and left the vicinity. Better save himself now from the embarrassing questions that were sure to bother him for the next few days. Gosh this girl was troublesome.

Shikamaru shrugged out into the night and decided to try and think of what he had said or done to upset his teammate. _Let's see, I only said a sentence at the beginning to her, other than that I just stared at her for a while and wondered why she wasn't talking. Then I got irritated by her not talking for once, she was so talkative before, she was supposed to lead the discussion. She's the girl and girls do that stuff. We finished dinner by then and I just said something to get a rise out of her. _Shikamaru stopped walking and blinked,_ oh man; she probably got angry at that. Geez, I guess being a genius doesn't help with small talk. Well at least I won't have to see her anytime soon, unless I get brought to the hospital. That wouldn't be too good. _

With those thoughts, Shikamaru headed towards his small house. He got it when he was promoted to one of the Hokage's supervisors. The raise in level also got better pay, so he decided that he might as well get a place to live. Living with his parents was embarrassing, not to mention troublesome. He guessed that his mother thought that since Shikamaru had more responsibilities with the village she decided that he should also have some more at home. It didn't take him too long to pack and leave his home.

Shikamaru reached for his keys and jammed them into the lock, it clicked open and he strode in. switching a light on, he kicked off his shoes and glanced around his home. It was pretty clean, after all, it would have been more troublesome to let it get dirty and then spend hours on end to clean it all up again. He walked over to his kitchen and grabbed a water glass while thinking about the survey he had turned in earlier. It was so odd. Not like any other he took before, those were about one specific subject and didn't ask any personal questions. This one did however and he found it strange for the Hokage to be asking these questions.

She was plotting something, and that meant more trouble for him. The part of the survey that confused Shikamaru the most was that he didn't know about it. If the Hokage wanted to do something, she would ask him how to go about it and which way had the best chance of success. At the fountain he saw Sakura pick up a survey looking confused earlier during the day, and he figured that if Sakura didn't know about it, then none of the other kids his age would know anything about the surprise survey.

So Shikamaru did the only thing he could, ask the elder generation what was going on. In this case that meant he had to ask his mother. Who better to know the inner workings of the village than a house wife? He didn't know what else to do, so he thought that this was the best solution to the problem. Sadly, he didn't find out anything whatsoever. Shikamaru's mother kept him busy the entire three hours he was over. She had him carrying boxes, washing the floors, feeding the deer, helping his father fix the light in the hallway, and more things. Every time he would start to ask his mother what was going on in the village, she would throw another chore at him, saying that he was lazy and needed to get in shape, or some other crap.

Shikamaru got suspicious of his mother's evasiveness so he said that he had to leave to go to Kiba's opening party, which he was already late for. By forty-five minutes. He was never this late, for anything, even troublesome morning meetings. Curse his mother. She ended up nagging him about his tardiness for five minutes before letting him leave the house. With his completed survey in hand, he had to drop it off after all. It was the law.

Shikamaru sighed and rolled his eyes at his mother's antics. He would find out what his mother and the Hokage were hiding if it meant that he had to do every troublesome thing in the universe, or giving up his cloud watching time. He would do it; it was his goal for now.

With that final thought he rinsed out his cup and trudged up the stairs to his messy room, it was the only room in the house that was messy, it was his personal space, and he could do whatever he wanted in the space, nobody would see it. He took off his clothes and flopped down on his bed and fell asleep like baby. He dreamed of clouds that night and his past adventures with his friends.

…

The next few days past quickly with work and other personal business for both Shikamaru and Ino.

Four days after the dinner party, Shikamaru woke up from his slumber by the beeping of his five alarms. _Great, seven in the morning, _he groaned and smacked around to shut the noise of every single one off, granted it was only five alarms, but they were placed around the room so that he would absolutely have to wake up and move around. He grunted and began the process of waking up. He stood up stretched and yawned and stumbled over to his bathroom to take a quick shower.

After his shower he wrapped a towel around his waist and walked back to his room, just in time for the doorbell to ring, grumbling a troublesome, he pulled on a pair of boxers and ran, well more like power walked, down the stairs. He opened the door with a scowl on his face, and asked the rude question, "What do you want?"

The young messenger girl genin gawked at the masculine scary elder boy in front of her. She reached out a shaking hand and gave him a letter with his name and address on the front of the standard envelope. He took it, mumbled thanks and closed the door in the small girls face. He glanced at the letter flipped it over and saw no return address, so he figured it was a memo from the Hokage. He tossed it aside on the kitchen counter and walked back up the stair to finish getting dressed.

He walked back down the stairs in some sweatpants and a wife-beater, got himself some cereal and a bowl and plopped down on one of the cushy barstools he had bought earlier that month. Shikamaru glanced at the letter and shoveled some of his food in his mouth reached over and ripped open the letter with some difficulty. The letter opener was on the other side of the island and he was too lazy to get up and grab it.

He folded open the two page letter and this is what it said:

_Dear fellow shinobi of Konoha,_

_This is a letter from your Hokage. As you all know, either from personal experience or otherwise, that the war has affected us all. Not only have we all suffered economic distress, but also a shinobi population epidemic. _

_Therefore I have decided to place a law entitled, The Marriage Law. This law, simply stated, means that you (the young shinobi between the ages of seventeen and twenty-six) must get married within a year. Now, this does not mean to go outside and marry some random female/male off the street. We have already taken care of whom you will spend your life with._

_The survey that you all took was for me and other trusted advisors to pair you up with someone of similar qualities and also who each ninja is compatible with. After sorting through the papers of everyone the advisors and I have paired you up with another shinobi that you will have the best chances of reproducing with. _

_There is a set of guidelines you MUST follow, they are as follows:_

_You must meet with your companion, within the week, and register* at the Hokage's office. The one we have paired you with is enclosed on the second page. _

_You must move in together within a two month span. You must stay at the establishment you may not live in separate bedrooms, you must share a bed. You must also spend as much time with your significant other as possible. This means taking time out of your schedule to spend at least one day a week to talk together and get to know one another._

_By the fourth month, you must share something intimate with one another, this does not mean for you to have sex, in fact it doesn't have to be physical; it just has to mean something to the both of you._

_By the half year mark, you must turn in a date for your marriage. If this is ignored, I will assign a date for you. This date has to be before/at the end of the year. We will review these dates and set it in a timetable for you. The time setting for this would be from today, May 23, 2010 to May 23, 2011._

_During this time (the entire year) you may not: use jutsus on one another, harm your companion, avoid them for extended periods of time, etc. I expect you all to handle this situation with the upmost maturity that I know you are capable of. _

_You must consummate your marriage on the night of the ceremony, and every month that follows. No exceptions._

_You and your mate must be pregnant within two years after your marriage._

_*Regarding the register, you will be sealed with a newly developed jutsu that will bind you to one another for the year. A more complex one will be performed at your marriage ceremony. Failure to comply with these guidelines will result in severe punishment. _

_Thank you for your cooperation,_

_Sincerely,_

_Lady Tsunade_

Well this law was going to be troublesome. Shikamaru flipped over and saw another note:

_The below name is your life-partner as decided by both advisors, Lady Tsunade and a complex jutsu Congratulations Shikamaru Nara, your mate is:_

_Ino Yamanaka._

Shikamaru glanced at the paper, blinked his eyes and ran out of his home. This time actually sprinting down the street with no shoes on and barely anything appropriate for the morning chill. _Yep, this law is definitely going to be troublesome._

…

Ino looked down on her paper.

She then proceeded to walk calmly down the stairs to show her mother and father the 'exciting' news, she had gotten this morning. _'Exciting', indeed._ Ino bit her nails as her mother's face lit up at the prospect of planning a wedding. Her mother turned to her and squealed.

"Ino you're getting married!" Her mother flung herself across the island and asked," Do you know who it is? This is so exciting; my little baby is getting MARRIED!"

Ino nodded and whispered," Shikamaru…Shikamaru Nara."

While her mother was rejoicing at the news, her father was fuming in the corner, how could they take away his little princess and marry her off, his anger quickly dissipated when he heard the name of the boy who was going to steal his daughter from him. He was pleased with Shikamaru, he was successful, not to mention he had meet him before and it didn't hurt that he was friends with Shikaku. He was quick to rejoice with his wife at the outcome of the situation.

Ino heard a frantic knock on the door and stood slowly in her sleep shorts and tank to go answer it.

She was expecting another messenger to come and ruin her life more.

Ino got better than just a messenger; she got the boy who was going to ruin her life instead.

Shikamaru stared at the girl who was going to be the source of trouble for the rest of his life. _Laws are troublesome._ He asked," May I come in?"

Ino opened the door wider to allow him in her home. He followed her to the kitchen where Ino's family was dancing around glowing at the prospect of Ino getting married. Shikamaru was shocked, needless to say, with Inochi's behavior at his 'princess' getting married to him. He figured that it was because their parents were friends with one another.

"Shikamaru my boy! You're going to handful with this one if she's anything like her mother, if you catch my drift boy." Inochi waggled his eyebrows at Ino and his wife and danced off to who knows where to do gods know what.

With those parting words from her father, Ino blushed red and said," Let's go register."

Shikamaru couldn't agree more, no need to stay around and find out exactly what Ino's parents were doing. So he turned and started to walk out the door. When he spoke to Ino," Sorry for what I said, it was inappropriate and immature of me. Forgive me?"

Ino blushed," Sure… you realize you're going to apologizing more often right?"

"I figured," Shikamaru sighed," Laws are troublesome, can't even meet a girl on my own." He smirked, "At least I don't have to waste the effort of finding one that I'm matched with."

Ino turned tomato and sighed," Okay I forgive you, seriously this time, no need to suck up. You'll be doing plenty of that later on. Let's just get this over with now."

With that the newly formed couple walked out the door with a space between them and awkward glances at one another.

…

A/N: So what did you think? I probably could have made this longer, but I'm kind of tired and have to get one good night of sleep. I hope this holds you over for twenty days. Please review and let me know what you think of the chapter!

Thank you very much for all of those who have responded to this fiction, I'm pretty excited to continue this story and would like to thank all of you guys who support this so far, I hope you like the up and coming chapters!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Gosh I'm just jumping with excitement! My soul is blustering with joy! I have reviews! :D No words can describe how thankful I am for the comments of support, they me feel all fuzzy inside. So I would like to thank the reviewers/alert adders who have supported me thus far: an anonymous, animefan, Haylin-chan, ren-shika-inu15, shika-ino-4evers, SilverWolfStar, Shikain'Sakusasu'Kibahina4eva, Daga Uchiha, chibicatprincess, ShikaInoInuKikIchiHime, and steelseraphim.

I'm really sorry for not updating faster; there were some family issues for me to take care of. I realize it has practically been a month so here's a really long chapter for you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and its related characters/places.

…

_Waiting in the lobby for the Hokage in nothing but pajamas probably isn't the smartest idea._ Ino thought to herself. Indeed it wasn't a good idea. You see with both Shikamaru and Ino in pajamas early in the morning was most likely giving off the vibe that they had 'slept' together. Which was not good at all; other early rising young newly formed shinobi couples kept on eyeing them, whilst smirking and giving pats on the back to Shikamaru. It took no genius to figure out what their comrades were thinking.

Or maybe Ino was just observant. Shikamaru looked… well confused as to why his mates were smacking him on the back, chuckling and leaning down to say 'nice' in his ear. _What does that even mean?_ Shikamaru thought after the third couple that morning walked by and the guy whispered to him, 'nice lay.' _What does that mean?_ Shikamaru kept going over this morning's events and not recalling any sexual encounter, even the night before he didn't do anything. His brows furrowed in frustration and he closed his eyes and started to think… and think…and think. _Arugh! I've got nothing… Maybe Ino knows, she can normally figure out social situations._

With that thought he turned to pose the question he had pondering for the last half hour, when he noticed something about Ino. She was sitting stiff straight in her chair with a large pink mark covering her pale cheeks. _Well that's weird. She doesn't normally get fidgety… Maybe because she gets nervous talking to the Hokage? No, that couldn't be it… Ugh, why must everything be so confusing? _

Ino didn't think that everything was confusing. Actually she knew exactly why Shikamaru's friends were talking in his ear. They thought that they, meaning her and Shikamaru, had slept together…and not in the innocent way either. _Arugh, why don't I think ahead? Obviously dressing in pajamas would have implications. Geez, why does he look so confused? He's the genius._ She stopped fidgeting with the hem of her shorts at that point, raised an eyebrow, and leaned forward to get a look at the flustered hunched over genius who was sitting next to her, "Is something, um, wrong?"

Shikamaru turned his hunched over form towards one of his many newly acquired, troublesome problems, "Yes."

Then silence.

"Well," Ino wondered, annoyed, "What is it? What's your problem?"

"Everything."

"That clears things up nicely." Ino pulled her hands from the hem of her shorts, to push her hair behind her ear and place her hands on her hips.

"Ugh, you're going to make me explain?" She gave him another look, he snorted and rolled his eyes," Fine, I can't figure out why everyone keeps on saying 'nice' and other pointless words in my ear and you. You keep on fidgeting and whatnot. It sucks, I can't figure it out. What's up with everyone, are they smoking something I should know about?"

Ino turned her head away from the 'genius' and smiled…Then snorted, turned to face Shikamaru, saw his expression of pure confusion, then she all out laughed in his general direction. She couldn't tell her eyes were tearing; Shikamaru just looked on with a raised eyebrow, along with the rest of the room. The immediate collective thought was, _She's gone mental._ "You idiot," She leaned over and whispered in his ear," They think we slept together, just look at us, me in skimpy p-jays and you with practically no shirt? Think about it, way to be a genius." And she laughed again.

Shikamaru had sat up blot right in the crummy plastic chair, his eyebrows in his hairline and a blank mind. He looked like he was an ice sculpture…with frown lines and the largest pink stain scampering across his cheekbones. Shikamaru un-froze and coughed into his hand, so as to hide his blush; He leaned back over his knees and assumed his thinking stance.. _Well, that explains quite a bit. Does everyone automatically assume, just because two people are dressed in p-jays, have slept together? Is everyone this perverted? Should be looking into this? _His thoughts continued along these lines, while Ino was still laughed at Shikamaru's thinking pose, _Only __he__ would think this hard about a situation._

Ino sat and watched him think until their names were called by Shizune," Ino and Shikamaru, the Hokage can see you now." The duo stood from the rickety chairs and walked towards the office; Ino leading the way, with a confident stride, but with her eyes averted to the ground she was walking on; Shikamaru kept up his lazy saunter, but while noticing the nudges and winks sent his ways and towards many other males in the room. Things were so troublesome.

When the former teammates entered the room the Hokage was sitting at her desk with a small smirk tugging at the corner if her mouth, "Congrats, you two are the first of the 'Marriage Law' to come in for your session…"She eyed their clothing with the mischievous glint in her eyes," You already know most of the rules and guidelines to this law. However I still have to explain more of them to you. There is a main set of guidelines you should follow: Number One, you must always think of yourselves as teammates, just like in a mission, you must work together to gain success. As comrades, you should respect and value one another, no need for violence just use words…we can't have too many people in the hospital after all. This means that as of now you both must do various activities together to make sure your relationship blossoms into a bond that is unbreakable. Savvy?"

The young 'team' nodded. Tsunade took this as a 'Yes ma'am, we understand.' So she continued," Number Two, always be mindful of each other, blaming does no good in an relationship, if there is a problem, think it through and come up with a solution. Then talk it through and soon enough your problem is gone just like that." Tsunade looked to Shikamaru, who was absorbing every word spewed out of her mouth. "There will be monthly check-ups with your friends, family, and you two; we need to track your progress as a couple. I know that we seem to just be forcing this on the younger generation, but it is vital for our village to survive, are you both willing to help your village? If not, then you will no longer be a ninja in this village, just a normal citizen."

Both shinobi looked at each other, it wasn't going to be easy, but for their village they'd be willing to do anything. Ino looked at the Hokage with a smoldering fire buried in her eye, "I would do anything for this village, it is my honor to do what I must as shinobi." Shikamaru had the same burning deep within his own eyes and nodded firmly.

Tsunade smirked and gave them a sheet of paper,"This has all of the rules, tips and guidelines. Follow them well; if you do not, you know what will come to pass. By signing this paper it states that you agree to the terms and conditions to the law and amendments that might follow in the future. Also by signing your names here the jutsu that will link you to each other will be activated and put immediately into affect. " The young adults signed the paper, then thanked and bowed to the Hokage and left the building with a booklet in hand.

They walked in silence in the still early morning streets. Back to Ino's parents house. You see, it was one of the terms Ino had to fulfill in order to stay at her own place; she had to spend the night at her parent's home at least twice a week. It was lame, but it wasn't too bad. Considering she got to live on her own, it was a pretty good ultimatum.

Well at least before this whole law thing came into plan.

Moving in together? When was that going to happen? Probably sooner rather than later, if anything Shikamaru would think that it would be less troublesome to do the move in the beginning, less stress for later. Ino's thoughts continued drifting through the timeline they had to fulfill and decided to ask Shikamaru what they should do about the living conditions, bluntly she said," Where are we going to live?"

If Shikamaru had been drinking something he would have choked. He hadn't even started to consider any of the standards that had to be met. Was she thinking about them this whole time? _Geez, I should put more thought into this 'law'… How long do we have till we absolutely have to move in together? Two months maybe? Well might as well deal with this as soon as possible. _

"Well, how big is your place?" Shikamaru decided that whoever had the larger home should be the one they would move into.

"It's a small flat, about three hundred square feet. I think we should move into who's ever is bigger, so how big is your house…or are you still living with your parents? Because in that case we'd be living nowhere and face punishment with the Hokage, and that's never good. Training with her was harsh, but a punishment from her, no thank you." _Great, I'm ranting, fabulous. What am I, fourteen? _

"No, I moved out a while ago. Mine's bigger." Shikamaru decided to stop Ino from talking, _So much for an average life,_ he sighed and pointed to Ino's front door, "We'll talk later, we're here. I find you later this week."

With a turn on his heel, Shikamaru sauntered away to his townhouse. Of course leaving a speechless Ino standing on her parent's front stoop. _Well, that was an interesting conversation. _She turned, opened the door to get her things and walked back to her apartment. All the while ignoring her father and mother **still** frolicking around the house at their daughter's new fiancé. How they could be this cheerful in the morning, marriage or no, was a mystery to Ino.

…

The next two days Ino was out on mission to meet and greet some ambassadors from the village of the mist and working in the flower shop. It had two days nine hours and eleven minutes since Shikamaru had last told her that he was going to find and talk to her this week. She had been in a haze earlier, but then got annoyed that he hadn't found her yet and they had to talk about so many things together, not only about the law, but about their past and how it ended so badly. This was going to be, well, troublesome.

While she was thinking she did not notice the small tinkling sound that sounded above the door way in the flower shop. Ino did flinch however when she heard someone kick over a watering can. Ino looked up in surprise, "What's wrong with you Sakura?"

The pink haired girl looked at the blonde with a mischievous, evil, sticking-her-nose-where-it-shouldn't smile.

…

Shikamaru knew she go and talk to Ino. Really he did, he just couldn't find the time to that's all.

Okay, okay, so he was avoiding her. But who could blame him. All he wanted from life was an average wife, average job and average kids, unfortunately, fate went out of its way to throw some troublesome things in his life. Like a marriage law with an exceeding average woman, a way too demanding job…and most likely he'd have non-average kids as well, _What a pain. What did I ever do wrong? Win too many shougi games?_ He was frustrated, so he did what he normally did when he was confused, he lit up a smoke. Ino probably wasn't going to let him have any of these anymore. _She hates the smell of smoking._

He rolled his eyes and stared at the floor attempting to figure out what to do. Shikamaru knew that eventually he'd have to talk to her, key word: eventually. Maybe not though, Ino was known for her impatience so Shikamaru was almost sure that she would get tired of waiting for him to find her, so she would come and find him. Saving him the trouble of finding her, but not saving him from the ear full of nagging, so that plan was shot.

Shikamaru groaned and rolled out of his slacking pose against the wall, finally deciding to get this over with. Taking and enjoying the last drag of cigarette, throwing it on the ground and stomping on it. After all causing a fire right now would be very troublesome.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and started to saunter back over towards the Hokage's office to let his 'friends' know that he was going to take off for the day, he already finished his work, why should he stay and help them? _Oh the hassles of being the 'smart' friend._ He snorted to himself and entered the building quickly bounding up the stairs poking his head through the door, planning on shouting something really quick then leaving before his 'friends' dragged him back to helping them.

Sadly, Shikamaru's well thought out plan was crushed by the regular greeting of, "Hey," and a grab around his neck that Shikamaru couldn't break. He glared to the offender, Naruto. "So Shika, because we're friends and all, and Baa-chan has been throwing papers at me, do you want to help me do them. Don't forget, every time you help me you're also helping your village."

"Village my ass. You just want me file all of the missions," Shikamaru decided to correct his 'friend'," What do you mean by helping you I'm helping the village; it's only paperwork… besides I'm done. See you later Naruto."

With that said, he turned to leave before Naruto could pull out his puppy eyes. With a wave over his head, we walked back out of the door and left Naruto alone with several piles of paper to go through.

…

Ino stared at Sakura. "…Are you serious?"

"Most definitely," Sakura groaned, "Why not? Nobody knows who anybody is with."

Ino huffed, after Sakura came into the store with her devious grin, Ino just knew that whatever Sakura was up to it would be but incredibly stupid, but also so much fun, "What will a sleepover do? What do you mean by the 'nobody' and 'anybody' thing?"

Sakura adjusted herself on Ino's bed grasping a stuffed animal, "Well, none of the girls know who are friends are with, so we don't know who is dating who and we all haven't had a sleepover in a while. All of us females need to confine in one another."

Ino rolled her eyes, "Yeah right, you just want to know who's going to get married to whom. I know your intentions… and I like them." Ino smirked and the two devilish kunoichi began planning a super sleepover for all of the girls.

They talked about their missions, made invitations, and new techniques that Tsunade was teaching them. They had both agreed to not to tell who they were marrying until the night of the sleepover. In the invitation they sent out, they said to each of the girls to not tell anyone but family about who they were going to marry. It wasn't going to much fun if they already knew their secrets.

Sakura stayed for dinner at the Yamanaka house and left afterwards to drop off all of the invites to their friends personally. It was done the sleepover was planned for a week away at Ino's house.

She sighed as she closed the door resting her eyes and leaning on the door when somebody knocked harshly on the door not even five minutes after Ino had finally begun to relax.

With a grunt, she flung open the door and said hotly, "Really Sakura? It can't be that hard to put letters in a mailbo…" Ino stopped her ranting when she realized that it was not Sakura at the door, but Shikamaru,"Um, hi..?"

"That was a lovely greeting, trying to run for Miss. Konoha, you'd win the judges over for sure with those lines," Shikamaru chuckled at his own wit as well as the look on Ino's face, "So what about these letters?" He had a feeling it was stupid and girly, but he wanted to know anyway.

"Letters, you mean like the alphabet? I would think with a two hundred plus IQ you would be able to know at least that much." Ino smirked, sure her comeback was lame, but if it got him distracted then it all worked out in the end.

After all it was one of the conditions that Sakura and she concocted during their planning of this devious scheme. The main plan was to know the other girls' new found husbands, but the other part of the plan was to force the guys together for some male 'bonding'. Otherwise known as trying to get the guys to brag about their new found wives while the girls spied on them; it was intensely smart, especially since most of the girls were trained to be better spies than the guys in the first place. It was a part of their training in the academy, girls were normally spies and guys were expected to do all of the dirty work.

It was pure genius. So simple that Shikamaru would never even come close to figuring it out.

Ino giggled, "So what brings you to my humble abode?"

"Troublesome," he whispered out before he continued, "Well, speaking of 'abodes' we need to talk about living together." It was obvious she wasn't going to let him know what she was planning so why waste the energy in trying to pry it out of her sneaky brain.

Ino paled and gestured for him to come into her home. She led him past the sitting area and into her kitchen, "Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Ino's nervous tendency kicked in as she didn't even wait for the lounging ninja to respond as she started to cook something.

Shikamaru sighed, _Troublesome, every time without fail. _Shikamaru knew that when Ino got nervous she always had to do** something** to keep her from over analyzing a situation. _Guess Ino hasn't changed too much then. Should be easy to get her to move in with me by the end of the week; She'll probably go along with it. Hope her cooking got better._

As Ino was cooking he looked over her attire, some ninja Bermuda pants and a long sleeved shirt, pretty typical clothes for a normal shinobi but definitely not for Ino, "Why are you wearing those clothes?"

Ino paused her whirling around the kitchen, blinked at Shikamaru and looked at herself, "Obviously it's better than being naked. Why are you commenting on my fashion choices?" 

"Well, where are your other clothes? I was wondering where your normal clothes were."

"Oh," Ino spun back around and got back to cooking some curry, "I thought we were going to talk about living arrangements and not my fashion choices. Start talking smart kid."

A sigh was heard, so she wouldn't even tell him something as simple as where her regular clothes were, "Well, we decided that we are going to live at my place, when do you want to move in?" He decided to be blunt; it would at least get a reasonable answer from her. She was being much too quiet for the normal Ino that he knew.

"Soon, I have to get some things settled down at the hospital and pack," Ino inwardly groaned, of course he had to bring up the subject of moving _after_ she had just finished planning a party at _her _house, "I'll be able to move in, in about a two weeks," she put the curry and rice in a bowl and gave it to Shikamaru, "Why do you want to move in together so soon anyhow, just to get it over and done with?"

"Something along those lines," Shikamaru grinned at her and he bit into his food, "Still tastes bad Ino, if you're going to be my wife you need to learn to cook." The statement was completely false, but he wanted a rise out of the girl, she was too emotionless, "Here's where my home is; I'll see you by the end of the week."

Shikamaru figured he'd show some authority. He wasn't going to be whipped like his father, if wanted to succeed at his goal of not being whipped he would have to show Ino that he wore the pants in the relationship.

Ino's eyebrows furrowed as clenched her hands, "If you're going to _live_ your need to stop insulting me," she coolly stated, "I will move into your house in two weeks time, that is final. If you don't like my food, then stop eating it and leave, I'm done talking to your sorry ass."

It was obvious she was pissed. _If he even thinks he's going to be slightly in charge he's got another thing coming. _He insulted her way to many times for her liking. If he thought she was going to be some housewife that would cook, clean and be jobless, Ino was going to prove him extremely wrong of his assumptions.

She was one of the two Hokage's assistants, not to mention an accomplished spy and Jonin. She was not going to sit on her butt all day and be defenseless and of no use. Ino had already done that when she was younger, she changed herself for the better of the village and she liked the change.

Ino worked up a sweat when she trained; she applied herself to her studies to become a doctor and changed her outward appearance. She changed for the better, and Shikamaru was not about the change her again to his likings, she was no longer manipulated by what others thought of her. She judged things for herself and no longer cared for the staring eyes that used to follow her.

Ino was independent, and independent she would stay.

All of this flashed in front of her mind's eye in a few seconds before she stalked up to Shikamaru and poked his chest, "Get over yourself. You couldn't lead a relationship if you even tried." Ino poked him again; well more like shoved him out of the way only to pull the door open expecting him to leave.

Shikamaru's face went from boredom to furious within a millisecond. He walked calmly up to the woman who insulted his masculine qualities and pushed her up against the wall none too gently and forced his mouth on Ino's with a bruising force.

Just as suddenly as the kiss came it ended with Ino biting the soft flesh of Shikamaru's lip. Hard.

He jerked back and bit out with a rasp of anger, "You get over yourself," He left without a backwards glance. "See you in two weeks."

Ino's face did a fantastic impersonation of a tomato as she slammed the door shut and stomped up to her room. As she flopped down on the bed she groaned and wriggled her hand out from underneath her to touch her lips gently. _How does kissing someone show that you are in charge? _Ino's face turned red again at the memory of the 'kiss' they had just shared, _Stupid lazy ass troublesome man._ _At least one of the requirements for this stupid law is done._

Ino sighed and then promptly fell asleep.

**...**

Ino woke up to the pleasant sound of her thunderous alarm clock beeping away at four thirty in the morning. Unfortunately, she had the morning shift at the hospital, that and Tsunade wanted to talk to her about something important. The Hokage probably wanted her to do some of the mountains of paperwork stacked at the hospital. With those wondrous thoughts in Ino's head, she groaned, smacked her alarm off and then stumbled off to her bathroom for a quick shower.

She hated working morning shifts, especially where she was at now. In the ER, seeing all of the mortally wounded shinobi coming in and out of the hospital; it was exhausting to say the least. After a quick breakfast Ino sprinted out of her parents house dressed in her normal non-descript clothes and to the hospital.

She made it to the locker rooms in record time and spotted a friend, "Hey Sakura!"

The pink haired woman turned around, "Hello Ino. I hear that Tsunade-sama wants to speak to you?"

"Yep, it's pretty odd; she normally doesn't want anybody to bother her when she's here at the hospital." Ino bit her lip and waved a dismissive hand in the air, "She must be desperate to get that paperwork done."

"Maybe so," Sakura giggled, "In any case you shouldn't keep her waiting on you. It's got to be important for her to personally ask for you," she gave an un-lady-like snort, "She'll pitch a fit if you don't show up soon you know."

With a smirk and friendly hug from Sakura, Ino donned her white coat bade her friend goodbye and headed out of the locker rooms. Ino stopped by the front desk to say good morning to the busy receptionist and to punch in for her shift.

She quickly strode down the twisting sterile hallways until she saw the Hokage's large oak office door. Ino swallowed her nervousness and knocked softly on the smooth wood. Taking the rough grunt on the other side of the polished door as a, "You may enter." Ino shoved the door open lightly and shakily said, "Good morning, Tsunade-sama."

Another grunt was heard before the Hokage looked up at Ino and smirked at her obvious discomfort, "Good morning to you as well Ino," she gestured to the small comfortable seat in front of the demanding desk, "Have a seat. I have much to discuss with you."

Ino gulped and sat down on the edge of the tiny seat and braced herself for the worst.

Tsunade chuckled at the girl, "What are you so nervous about? The Ino I know almost never gets nervous." She pressed a hand in front of her mouth to suppress the mirth threatening to come out, "I bet your thinking that I want you to do my paperwork for me. That's not the case however I wish it to be so, it is much more important than any piece of paperwork. Are you prepared to face the challenge that I am going to give you?"

Ino's azure eyes widened at her teacher's words. Tsunade always had the challenges saved up for Sakura, not for her. Something was going on and Ino desperately wanted to know what was going on with her teacher. Plus any challenge that Tsunade handed out was considered more of a job than a challenge. "Y-yes," _Despite the stuttering, that answer went well_, "I would love to take one a c-challenge." _Who am I Hinata? Get a grip. _

The elder woman gazed into Ino's baby blues with mirth sparkling in her own honey ones, "Okay, here is your challenge:" She paused for dramatic effect, she couldn't help but tease the girl, she looked to cute all flustered, "You are to become head of the Pediatrics and Obstetrics Departments. I need the help with all the soon to be new mothers and all of the children. I think you are the best fit we could find."

Ino's eyes widened more, if at all possible, and her mouth popped open, "Why me who gets to head this department, surely there are older and much better medics to head that particular area of the hospital." Ino couldn't help it, after being seen as so helpless before, she had to question why the Hokage and the greatest medic-nin of all time wanted _her_ to head such an important department.

"Simply put, your chakra is better suited for children and pregnant women. It's softer and gentler than any other healing chakra that I've personally ever come across." Tsunade chuckled, "You also excelled at healing small children and healing women in birth during training. Don't deny your skills Ino, you may leave now and you can start moving all of your things into that department's head office. Good luck Ino."

With a shaky nod Ino fled the office in a sprint and went straight to the ER yelling at the top of her lungs as she went, "SAKURA!"

With a too large smile and a loud laugh, the Hokage turned back to her work, all too excited for the up and coming year.

…

**One week passes**

Shikamaru stayed home from work that day. Even though he was lazy he had never missed a day at work, ever. It made him angry, _Damn woman, not giving me a specific day_. The reason for Shikamaru's anger was because when her went to Ino's house to 'discuss' the moving day, she failed to give him an exact date of when she was going to move in.

Normally this wouldn't be such a big deal. However, Shikamaru had no idea _when_ his new fiancé would move in. So instead of planning on cleaning a certain day of the week, he decided to just clean everything from top to bottom. _This is going to be a drag. _He sighed loudly and began the search for cleaning tools.

Now Shikamaru wasn't the tidiest person alive but not the messiest either. He just kept his space reasonably clean, it would have been more troublesome to leave everything messy and eventually leading to have to waste more time to pick it all back up again. Versus just keeping it sort of clean and in turn wasting less of his time. Which obviously lead to more cloud gazing.

As this line of thought ended, Shikamaru found the cleaning supplies after squatting down and plucking it from under the bathroom sink. _Might as well start now, troublesome; Ino better do the cleaning when she moves in._ He sauntered over to the entrance hall with a bucket full of clean warm water, a few old rags and bunches of the chemicals meant to clean.

The next few hours past quickly and efficiently while Shikamaru dusted, washed and sanitized nearly every surface in his home. _Well, that wasn't too bad; _Shikamaru glanced around the newly sparkling house when he started to head towards his room to take a nap. Tossing his clothes into the hamper by the door and climbed in to his single bed…_Single bed? Crap, I guess I need to buy a new bed, so much for relaxing._ With a sigh and a mumbled 'troublesome' Shikamaru threw on some clothes and wandered out into the market.

He was just about to enter a shop that sold numerous beds of all sizes and shapes when he heard a rather annoying voice calling, rather shouting, his name in the distance, "Troublesome, Naruto what do you want now?"

"Hey! I was thinking, wouldn't it be great tonight to go out for drinks with the guys?" Naruto's eyes were shining with over-enthusiasm, "Because all of us guys haven't hung out for a while and with everyone getting married and all, I think it would be great if we all shared some male bonding before, um, females take over our life."

"No," Shikamaru sighed, "Why do you suddenly want to hang out with me? I don't think it's because of 'male bonding', it's because you want to know who is getting hitched with whom."

Naruto pouted, "Please Shikamaru old buddy, old pal? Think of all the fun experiences a night with the boys will bring."

"You mean a hangover that I'll regret in the morning? I think not."

"Aw come on! You don't have to drink; you can just sit there and pick up on some black mail." Naruto looked up at Shikamaru with puppy eyes, "Think of it as information gathering that you can use at a later date. Please please please please?"

"Urgh, fine I'll go, what time and where?" Shikamaru wanted to face-palm himself for his supreme idiocy, "I've got some stuff left to do Naruto, hurry up and tell me."

With an excited fist pump in the air Naruto practically yelled in Shikamaru's ear, "YES! We'll be meeting at eight in the bar across from Ichiraku's ramen place." In a blink of an eye Naruto was off running to whoever else he was going to invite tonight, "Later Shikamaru! Don't be late!"

Sighing Shikamaru turned back to the bed store front and bought a nice King sized bed for him and Ino to eventually use. As a second thought he also bought a nice comfortable couch to go into his living room, a strange premonition came to Shikamaru saying that he would be spending sometime on that couch, for relaxing or otherwise.

He signed that bill for the purchased items and moseyed back to his home where he would sleep for a few hours before going to the 'get together' Naruto set up.

Little did Shikamaru notice the pink haired women listening in to his and Naruto's conversation outside of the bedding shop.

…

A/N: Thank you guys again for all of the reviews and alerts things! I'm sorry it took so long for me to get this chapter up.

**Let me know what parings you want! I haven't decided who I want to go with who!**

Reviewing would be nice, but you don't have to.


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